


Coffee Date

by stephanericher



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Established Relationship, KNBxNBA, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 20:12:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12801468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephanericher/pseuds/stephanericher
Summary: Taiga will complain all he wants to in his head, but he'd meet Tatsuya at three in the morning after a five hundered mile drive, never mind after two hours of not-sleep and when Tatsuya's just gotten in from a flight himself.





	Coffee Date

**Author's Note:**

> for a curiouscat anon. too long to fit in the reply box apparently.

Taiga gets up early, bleary-eyed and caffeine-deprived and more than a little annoyed with the east coast sensibilities that have infiltrated Tatsuya's routine like slow-brewing tea. He says they haven't, but there's no way he'd want to get up this early five years ago when he was still in college and Taiga was in LA to visit him, though maybe that's the time difference, too, and Taiga's so busy thinking about that he autopilots out the front door of the hotel.  
  
There aren't any paparazzi; it's what makes New York a little cooler than, say, Indiana, but the drunk couple screaming at each other outside and the still-pervasive smell of garbage, the narrow walk outside under the scaffolding (at least it's a suitable umbrella), makes Taiga sigh. Tatsuya's city (he hears Tatsuya say "not mine" in his head again, gentle amused tone) is a taste Taiga still hasn't really acquired. Taiga jams his hands deeper into his pockets.  
  
"Hey, man."  
  
Taiga picks up his pace; the steps on the concrete behind him match his.   
  
"Hey, man, you got a light?"  
  
"Sorry," says Taiga.   
  
The footsteps stop; the would-be smoker's probably looking for another target. Taiga will complain all he wants to in his head, but he'd meet Tatsuya at three in the morning after a five hundered mile drive, never mind after two hours of not-sleep and when Tatsuya's just gotten in from a flight himself.   
  
They haven't really been dating long enough for Taiga to just stay over at Tatsuya's, which is weird to say. It wouldn't have been a big deal before, but it's like with this they've taken five steps back, exercising caution that in hindsight seems undue. Everything they used to do is now twisted with a different flavor, like adding alcohol to drinks he's used to without for the first time. A little bit of a thrill, like being eighteen at a college party and looking around at everything that's been opened up, but feeling like they need to dial back before they've done anything. It's hard to say it; Taiga can't just say that in those words. Tatsuya usually knows what he means, but when it's something like this he can't take a chance on Tatsuya misinterpreting him, and the thought leans on his mind and makes it sag.   
  
Taiga hails a cab at the corner; it's quicker than the subway when the streets are empty, and he can afford it. He fires off a text to Tatsuya in the cab and leans back, staring at the streets as they pass. The coffee place Tatsuya wants to go to isn't that far away, but neither is his apartment. Taiga lets the phone screen fade to black and eyes his reflection. He looks as good as he can for being tired and jet-lagged; his hair looks okay and his collar needs to be straightened and while he's not sure if he has a good smile or not, seeing Tatsuya's probably going to freeze one on his face.  
  
Tatsuya's seen him a million times before; Tatsuya knows what he looks like at his worst and best and everywhere in between and even if they weren't anything before this (impossible to imagine) after a few months he shouldn't be this nervous. But it's because Tatsuya's Tatsuya; it's because their relationship is as tangled and knotted and utterly simple as it is.   
  
The moment Taiga sees him he forgets how to overthink it. It's just Tatsuya, tired and still so fucking gorgeous, thumb brushing against the rim of his coffee cup, leaning back slightly in his chair, and fuck. Taiga wants to buy him a thousand coffees; he wants to scoop Tatsuya up into his arms and fuck the scene it makes because no one else in here counts for shit. He wants to play one-on-one and talk and lace his fingers so tightly into Tatsuya's they can't be separated.  
  
Taiga knows how to say it even if he doesn't know exactly what to say, a sentiment that barely makes sense in his own head. He doesn't give a shit.   
  
"Hey," Tatsuya says, extending his hand under the table, fingers skidding across Taiga's knee.  
  
"Hey," says Tatsuya.  
  
Their knuckles bump; Taiga's hand swallows Tatsuya's, his blunt nails brushing across the calluses below Taiga's fingers. Tatsuya's smiling; it's more than the glancing artificial one he gives the media and more than the expression that tugs at his lips when he lets it. Taiga doesn't have to take a sip of his tea to feel like he's just swallowed something warm.   
  
He yawns, and Tatsuya laughs.  
  
"Late night?"  
  
"I didn't sleep at all," Taiga says. "No practice today, though."  
  
(No game until tomorrow evening, and until tomorrow's practice all his time's Tatsuya's, if he wants it.)  
  
Tatsuya's smile stays. "Good."  
  
"You got plans for us?"  
  
"If you're up for them," says Tatsuya, and, fuck, Taiga almost asks if they can be right now.  
  
"Yes," says Taiga, hopefully not too eager and easy, but--he can't really hide that from Tatsuya anyway; he doesn't even want to for its own sake.  
  
(But then Tatsuya reminds him he's every bit as eager.)


End file.
